Digital Photos: The recent surge of interest in digital photography has created a need for software tools that manage digital images. In this month's cover story, we examine some Linux tools for supporting digital photography. You'll learn about imgSeek, a viewer that lets you search for images by the shape of an object in the picture. We'll also look at the versatile Xnview viewer and image editor. We'll show you how to manage scanners with the XSane scanner front-end, and we'll discuss some tools that let you access EXIF header information for loss-free editing of JPEG files.

OpenOffice Base: The new Base database system is the last piece of the puzzle for OpenOffice. With the arrival of Base, the OpenOffice suite now has a database to compete with MS Access. We'll show you how to design and build a simple database application using Base.

Mono and DotGNU: Mono and DotGNU are Open Source equivalents to Microsoft's .NET framework. We'll introduce you to Mono and DotGNU, and we'll test these free alternatives to see how effective they are at building a simple .NET application.

Knoppix 4: The Knoppix 4 live distro is full, fast, and very portable. You can use Knoppix to troubleshoot, or you can just have fun with it. In this month's cover story, Knoppix creator Klaus Knopper shows how to do more with Knoppix. You'll learn how to install programs, burn CDs, and write to NTFS partitions. We also bring you an exclusive interview with Klaus Knopper himself.

Secure Programming: One mistake in your Web program code and an intruder can get inside. Through a series of practical case studies, we'll show you some expert techniques for safer programming on the Web.

F-Spot: If it takes you too long to find the digital photo you really need, the F-Spot digital image manager will help you keep your collection organized. F-Spot lets you easily search for an image, or you can browse through your photos by category or date.

Web Design: The tools for setting up a Web page keep getting better, but every year users demand more features and a more sophisticated design. This month we examine techniques for better Websites. We'll show you how to set up an online store with the free tool osCommerce. We'll also describe you how to harness the power of Cascading Stylesheets for more efficient Web design. You'll learn how to convert a GIMP image to HTML, and we'll give you a glimpse at some Linux tools for creating Flash animations.

Content Filters: Web content filters protect a user's privacy and keep the flood of unsolicited advertising away. We'll show you how to keep your mailbox safe from Web junk using the content filters Privoxy and Webcleaner.

GRAMPS: If you're looking for a simple, intuitive program for investigating your family history, try the GRAMPS genealogy application - a free tool for Linux that is as full of features as the expensive Windows alternatives.

Go Mobile: The real challenge is not building the radio towers but finding ways to integrate the promise of mobile technology with the business of everyday life. This month's cover story looks at tools for the mobile user. You'll learn how to access the Internet from anywhere using GPRS Easy Connect. We'll also describe how you can manage your mobile phone data with Gammu and Wammu, and we'll show you how to switch the network configuration for a roving portable with SCPM.

Debian 3.1 "sarge": After years in the making, Debian sarge has finally arrived. Was it worth the wait? We took a tour of the latest from the Debian Project, and we found much to like in this sprawling and venerable distribution. With a new installer and many new extras, sarge is easy on beginners and appealing to experts.

Celestia: The Celestia 3D space simulation program lets you launch your own journey to the stars. Visit other worlds - real and imaginary - with this dreamy tool. You can even choose a spacecraft from your favorite science fiction epic.

Windows Integration: If the world won't let you give up Windows, why not bring Windows to Linux? In this month's cover story, we'll examine tools and techniques for Windows integration. We'll show you what really goes on behind the Grub boot menu. You'll also learn about accessing Windows NTFS partitions from Linux, and you'll get some real-world tips for running Windows applications in Linux with the Wine API.

Fedora Core 4: Fedora Core 4 has some new features, such as Xen, Gnome Keyring Manager, and the Evince document viewer. But is it really time for an upgrade? We'll describe what works and what needs work in the latest from the Red Hat-sponsored Fedora community.

Gambas: Visual Basic still has a strong following among the Windows faithful, but Linux has always had fewer options for programming in the Basic language. Now Linux users can turn to the popular and versatile Gambas development environment. We'll show you how to get started with writing Basic programs in Linux with Gambas.

Security: Attackers who gain access to your network medium have many options for how to trick your systems into letting them connect. In this month's cover story, we'll show you Hotspotter, a powerful tool for hijacking wireless connections. We'll also describe how an intruder with access to your LAN can compromise your security through ARP spoofing and poisoning. We'll finish with a look at SSPE, a handy tool for managing firewall security policies.

Podcatching: Podcasting is a popular technique for delivering audio broadcasts in mp3 format via RSS feeds. The act of receiving a podcast is called podcatching. Although the technique is named for the iPod, you don't need an iPod for podcatching. We'll show you tools such as iPodder and BashPodder that let you receive podcasts on a Linux system - but be prepared for some extra configuration.

Customizing Konqueror: The latest version of KDE's Konqueror provides features for integrating Konqueror with the user experience. We'll discuss Konqueror's pre-configured view profiles, and we'll show you how to create your own view profile. We'll also describe how you can extend Konqueror using special kioslave modules.

Wiki and Blog: In the beginning, the web only went one way, but in today's world, users rule. In this month's cover story, we'll show you the powerful Open Source tools the experts are using for supporting collaboration and web communities. You'll learn about Mediawiki, the wiki behind Wikipedia. We'll also show you the enterprise-grade TWiki wiki, and we'll describe how you can use the Drupal framework to create weblogs and custom web applications.

GMailFS: Why let a 2 Gigabyte email account go to waste? GMailFS lets you use your GMail email account as a storage medium for a mountable Linux filesystem. We'll show you how to set up and use the ingenious GMailFS filesystem for an Internet-accessible file storage system.

Apollon: Apollon gives Linux users a convenient GUI for easy access to Kazaa file-sharing networks. We'll describe the GIFT project for accessing Kazaa in Linux, and we'll show you how you can use the Apollon GUI as a handy GIFT front end.

Virtual systems: This month's cover story examines tools for supporting virtual systems. You'll learn how to run Windows applications directly in Linux with Wine, Cedega, and Crossover Office. We'll show you how to operate a complete version of Windows in Linux with VMWare, and how to run Mac OS inside Linux with Mac-on-Linux. We'll also describe how you can run Linux as a virtual system inside Linux with User-Mode Linux.

Linux on Sparc: Legacy Sun Sparc machines are inexpensive and plentiful, so why not set up one as a Sparc-based Linux system? We'll show you the Sparc systems that work with Linux, the Linux systems that work with Sparc, and some of the details you'll need to know if you're putting Linux on a Sun.

KDE Image Menu (Kim): The Kim context menu lets you convert, compress, rotate, crop, and mail images directly from within the Konqueror file manager. We'll show you how to manage your images and multimedia files the easy way with Kim.

Multimedia: Vendors long ago solved the problem of integrating computers with standard peripherals such as printers and disk drives. The emphasis of the past few years has been on incorporating devices that were once quite separate from the realm of the home computer. In this month's cover story, we examine some useful Linux tools for managing video production and digital audio recording.

Xandros Desktop OS 3.0: Xandros is one of those Linux distributions designed to make life easier for the everyday user. So how easy is it? We'll show you what we found when we had a look at the latest from Xandros.

Hotplugging: The Linux hotplug system lets you plug in devices such as USB peripherals without rebooting. We'll take a closer look at Linux hotplugging. You'll learn how Linux hotplugging works, and you'll find out how to troubleshoot the powerful Udev dynamic device management system.

Secure Email: Don't look now, but your mailbox is full of junk, and a snooper is live on a distant server, reading your opinions of your boss. Remember when email used to be easy? To restore some sanity to your correspondence, you'll need the right tools. This month's cover story examines tools for stopping spam and encrypting messages. We'll also show how you can create an indexed email archive in HTML with Hypermail.

Ubuntu: The innovative Ubuntu distribution adds a sleek look and enterprise-level customer support to a downsized Debian frame. We'll examine the polished and popular Ubuntu Linux and show you what the buzz is about.

KTools: KDict: Don't worry if your memory lets you down. KDE's handy KDict utility brings a dictionary to your desktop. We'll show you how to configure KDict to access dictionary sources on the web, and we'll describe how you can set up your own local dictionary database for faster searches and custom control.

Go Wireless: The special needs of wireless networks require special attention from the user. This month's cover story takes a look at wireless networking in Linux. You'll learn about the wireless standards of the IEEE 802.11 family. We'll also describe how to set up a USB WLAN adapter, and we'll show you how to create a wireless virtual private network using OpenVPN.

Linux on a Stick: If you like Linux on a bootable "live" CD, you should try it on a tiny and portable USB memory stick. We'll tell you which Linux distros work best on a 128 MB memory stick, and we'll show you how to get started with booting Linux from USB.

Command Linux: Manpages: Every command needs a good manpage. But what if you want to add your own comments? What if you need online documentation for a custom command line utility? We'll show you how to create your own manpages in Linux.

Firewalls: In today's world, if you're connected to the Internet, you'd better have a firewall. Firewalls are becoming evermore sophisticated, but the tools for managing firewalls are becoming simpler and more accessible for ordinary users. We'll look at bridging-level firewalls in Linux. We'll also examine firewall configuration tools, such as Guarddog and Shorewall, and we'll discuss the firewall logfile analysis tools WFlogs, FWlogwatch, and IPtables Log Analyzer.

Software Suspend: In a perfect world, you would never have to worry about power management, but some portables do not support the hardware-based APM or ACPI power management standards in Linux. Software suspend offers a flexible power management system that doesn't depend on the hardware.

KHotKeys: KDE's KHotKeys utility lets you assign commands to keyboard combinations. With KHotKeys, you can execute your favorite command with a single keystroke or mouse gesture.